Soon the developers of Mercenaries 2 will be guns-for-hire themselves.

Since then, rumors have percolated that EA's Los Angeles studio was also due for some cutbacks. However, today the Redwood City, California-based publisher made moves to shutter its other LA-area shop, Santa Monica, California-based Pandemic Studios, and merge its operations with those of EALA. Sources with knowledge of the closure confirmed it to GameSpot this morning, with EA vice president of corporate communications Jeff Brown explaining the closure shortly before noon.

"Today we informed employees at Pandemic that development on all the Pandemic franchises is being consolidated at EALA. As a result, we are eliminating roughly 200 positions at Pandemic," said Brown. "That said, EA is very committed to the Pandemic brand, and a core team of Pandemic developers will be developing existing franchises and other projects at EALA."

Brown also confirmed that among those departing are Pandemic founders Josh Resnick, Andrew Goldman, and Greg Borrud. He would not confirm the specific number of layoffs, but the Pandemic site lists its head count at 200 people--a number Brown said was inaccurate. The remaining Pandemic staffers will report to EALA head Sean Decker.

Pandemic's closure is cruelly ironic, since the past two years have seen one half of the former "superdeveloper," BioWare, increase its influence inside EA by taking over the publisher's other role-playing game studios. The Edmonton, Alberta-based shop just released Dragon Age: Origins, 2009's best-reviewed RPG, and is readying two other high-profile titles, Mass Effect 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic, for a 2010 launch.